Last night, when my sons and I were watching MMA on cable television, we observed a match won by a leg lock. The loser tapped out, but not before his knee appeared to be badly injured. Injuries seem to be pretty common in MMA.

I was speaking to former Chief of Police Lee Donohue, Sr. One of his teachers was Takamasa Bingo, who taught Kenpo at the Te Ken Jutsu Kai dojo, here in Hawaii and later on the mainland. Bingo Sensei learned from Sensei Masaichi Oshiro, who in turn learned from Professor William Chow. When Oshiro Sensei switched to Goju-Ryu, Bingo Sensei continued to teach Kenpo.

Bingo Sensei mentioned to Donohue Sensei that he did not want his students to participate in tournaments. He said that his students all had jobs and could not afford to be injured in a sport match. An injury could prevent them from working and earning a livelihood.

My friend, Professor Kimo Ferreira, told me about a tournament in which one of his students suffered a broken knee from a "cheap shot." A broken knee could easily make a student lose a job.

I'm sure that you have seen or heard of serious injuries in tournaments.

I agree with Bingo Sensei's advice. While we are learning self-defense, we should try our best to avoid injuries.

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"Karate Jutsu" means "China Hand art". Karate came to Okinawa from China.
Only in the 1930s or so, was the term "Karate" changed to mean "Empty Hand".
"China Hand" was used in Hawaii until after World War II, and is still used in some dojo.